Unit connecter



Sept. 6, 1938. w. J. BUEHRING UNIT CONNECTER Filed April 24, 1935 fi U Patented Sept. 6, 1938 UNITED SATES OFFCE UNIT CONNECTIER William J. Buehring, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Reliable Electric Company, a corporation of Illinois Application April 24,- 1935, Serial No. 18,028

4 Claims.

another feature of this invention is that it pr'ovides means for easily and simply getting a line wire into the connecter; still another feature 01 this invention is that it is adapted to withstand high strains imposed by the clamping means; Other features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following specification and drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a horizontal elevation of a connecter; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same connecter; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the connecter; Fig. 4 is a sectional view along the line 4--4 of Fig. 1; Fig.' 5 is a sectional view showing the wire entering the connecter; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a modified form; and Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view of the connecter shown in Fig. 6.

The advantages of a mechanical connecter for connecting a tap wire to a line wire, for example. have long been recognized. Many forms of connecters have been developed, all of them providing some means for clamping two wires in contact with each other. The majority of these connecters are not self-contained, or unit connecters; but comprise two parts which must be separated in order to place the'min operative position with relation to the line wire. Such a connecter is inconvenient and impractical for use in actual field work, since in the majority of cases the connection must be made by a lineman working at a disadvantage. Such a connecter, comprising two separate parts, for example, cannot be easily connected to the line by a lineman working at the top of the pole and having only one hand free.

Even if the lineman is able to get the two parts of such a connecter into proper operative relation with the line with the use of only one hand, he frequently drops one part or the other in endeavoring to connect them, as by threading them together. This results in a great waste of time in climbing up and down the pole, and in frequent lost connecters.

In order to overcome the disadvantages of these separable connecters, several forms of unit connecters have been developed for line work. All of the forms now in use, however, have proved to have serious defects. In one form. for example. the two parts have been slidably splined together in order to enable suflicient separation to admit the line wire. This form generally jams when it is tightened, and is of little use for any subsequent work. Another form, using a J-hook, has to limit the clamping pressure, and thus the tightness of contact between the wires, in order to prevent breaking of the J-hook, or else th hook has to be made extremely heavy.

This invention provides a unit connecter which is simple. easy for a lineman to use, and structurally able to withs'and high clamping strain. This connecter consists of a substantially U- shaped yoke member having its ends closed by a 10 yielding bridging member and provided with threaded clamping means. The entire connecter is a unit, and no skilful manipulation of any kind is required to place it'in operative position. A

slight manual pressure enables the line wire to enter the yoke member past the-yielding bridglng member, whereupon the unit will then hang from the wire. The tap wire may then be in serted through the side and the clamping means tightened to hold the two wires in the desired contact.

In the particularembodiment of this invention illustrated herewith, the reference numeral I0 indicates a line wire which may be insulated, as indicated by II. The connecter has its main portact, although the tap wire also may be other- 5 wise insulated, as by the insulator I9.

The end I3 of the yoke member I2 has near the upper end thereof, on the exterior surface, a groove or slot 20. This slot extends transversely of this end of the yoke member, and is adapted to receive an inwardly-turned pivot portion 2i of the bridging member I5. A leafspring or yielding member 22 is attached to the yoke member by any convenient means, as a screw 23, and

engages the bridging member near that end which is adapted to be received by the slot 20. This mounting forms a yielding mounting for the bridging member I5, enabling it to pivot about the end 2| for movement in the plane of the yoke when pressure is applied to it from the top tending to push it downwardly.

The line wire I0 is enabled to easily enter the yoke member of the connecter, since pressure of the wire In on the bridging member I5 causes the bridging member to yield and spring down- Clamping means com- 30 wardly to the position shown in Fig. 5, thus permitting the wire to enter the yoke member past the bridging member. As soon as the wire H) has been pushed sufficiently far into the yoke member, to clear the end of the bridging member l5, however, the tension or pressure of the leaf spring 22 causes the bridging member to return to its normally closed position. The tap wire or other wire to be connected to the wire l may then be inserted into the yoke member parallel to the wire Ill, and tightening of the bolt IE will then act through the clamping member II to bring the two wires into the desired contacts.

The particular yoke member illustrated herewith has an opening 24 through one side thereof, and an opening 25 through the other side thereof. The bridging member i is thus enabled to yield freely downwards, swinging in the space provided by these openings. At the upper end of each of these openings, the ends of the yoke member I! are provided with seats 26 and 21. These seats slope inwardly and downwardly, and are adapted to engage portions 28 and 29 of the bridging member, in order to prevent upward movement of the bridging member when the wire l0 lies within the yoke member, and more particularly to take the strain imposed upon the bridging member by the upward thrust of the clamping means IS. The slope of these seats and their relation to the bridging member l5 prevent any deformation of the yoke member when the clamping means I6 is pulled up tight, as by a wrench. The slope of the seats and the corresponding portions of the bridging member provides an inward component under strain tending to hold the two ends of the yoke member from spreading apart.

While the connecter illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 is particularly designed to be stamped out of sheet metal, it is to be understood that the connecter may be made in other ways. The modified form illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 is particularly designed for manufacture as a casting. The yoke member 30 is also provided with openings 3| and 32, and with seats 33 and 34 adapted to engage a bridging member 35. The bridging member is also provided with an inwardly turned end 36, adapted to cooperate with a slot 31 to provide a pivot for the yielding bridge member. A straight leaf spring 38 serves to hold the bridging member in the desired position, since its shape does not require the correspondingly shaped leaf spring found in the previous modification. The clamping member 39 merely has a V-shaped upper portion adapted to engage the lower of the two wires in the connecter.

The clamping members l1 and 39, in cooperation with the bridging members l5 and 35, provide a fairly broad surface in contact with the wires, while the cooperation between the bridging member and the seats provided for it at the top of the openings through the sides of the yoke member ensure correct distribution of the clamping strains, and thus considerable pressure may be exerted upon the wires without deforming either the wire or any part of the connecter. This not only insures good electrical contact between the two wires, but also enables the connecter to be removed and used again and again, since there is no distortion of any part thereof.

I'he clamping member i1 is substantially U- shaped in cross-section, being designed to prevent spreading of stranded wires here the connecter is used with wires of that type.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims, in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as permissible, in view of the prior art.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A connecter of the character described, including: a yoke member having openings through the sides thereof, said member being of sufllcient size to receive, two wires therein; a bridging member extending through said openings, said bridging member having one end thereof pivotally mounted on one end of said yoke member and the other end thereof adapted to swing downwardly to permit a line wire to enter said yoke past said bridging member; yielding means adapted to maintain said bridging member normally connecting the ends of said yoke; seats on said yoke member adapted to engage said bridging member to limit upward movement thereof, whereby said wire is prevented from leaving said yoke past said bridging member, said seats sloping inwardly and downwardly and being adapted to engage correspondingly sloped portions of said bridging member; a clamping member adapted to engage a second wire; and means for forcing said clamping member against said second wire to force said first, mentioned wire against said bridging member, whereby said wires are clamped in contact.

2. A connecter of the character described, comprising a U-shaped body having aligned apertures in the legs thereofadapted to receive a cross bar, a cross bar, means adjustably mounted in the base of said body to press conductors between said legs against said bar, said cross bar being swingably mounted on one leg of said body to swing from a position where it extends through both said apertures to a position where it extends through only one aperture and the space between said legs is open to receive conductors, and cooperating means on said cross bar and one of said legs to prevent removal of the bar from said last named aperture.

3. A connecter for electrical conductors .comprising a U-shaped body having aligned apertures in the legs thereof, a cross bar movable transversely of said body to extend from one of said apertures into the other, said cross bar having end portions adapted to press inwardly on said legs to prevent the legs from spreading apart, said cross bar having one end swingably mounted on one of the legs of said body so that it may be turned to move one of said end portions from the aperture in the corresponding leg and into the aperture in the other leg whereby to provide for insertion of an unbroken conductor between the legs, said last named leg and said cross bar having cooperating members thereon preventing the cross bar from being detached from said last named leg, and means adjustably mounted in the base of said body to press conductors between said legs against said cross bar said end portions of the cross bar and said legs having the engaging surfaces thereof sloped inwardly so that the pressure upon the cross bar holds the legs from spreading apart.

4. A connecter of the character described, comprising a U-shaped body having apertures in the legs thereof adapted to receive a cross bar, a cross bar, means adjustably mounted in legs is open to receive conductors, and spring means pressing said cross bar into the first named position, said spring means being yieldable under pressure upon said cross bar toward the base of said body to permit the cross bar to move to the second position.

WILLIAM J. BUEHRING. 

